
Preserve Iowa Summit
June 1-3, 2023
The Iowa State Historic Preservation Office is proud to present the 2023 Preserve Iowa Summit!
The Preserve Iowa Summit is the state’s premier conference for professionals and volunteers involved in historic preservation. Through expert presentations, workshops and tours, participants will learn new ways to preserve Iowa’s past for the future.
The 2023 summit will take place in Sioux City, where Iowa’s rolling prairies meet the Great Plains. The city has a rich and colorful history as a hub for frontier exploration, riverboats, railroads and much more. It’s home to the spectacular Woodbury County Courthouse, one of the world’s finest examples of Prairie School architecture, as well as the Sergeant Floyd Monument, which honors a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and became the country’s first National Historic Landmark in 1960.
The three-day program starts Thursday with some inspiration – an awards ceremony to honor the Preservation Projects of Merit, Excellence in Historic Preservation & Archaeology awards, and Preservation Iowa’s “Preservation at Its Best” – and wraps up Saturday with a round of how-to sessions specially designed for Iowans who work or volunteer at local historical societies and history museums across the state.
Location
The welcome, keynote and preservation awards session will take place at the Orpheum Theatre. All other sessions and the welcome reception will take place at the Warrior Hotel.
Registration Rates
- $200 for the three-day conference and welcome reception on Thursday evening
- $100 discounted registration for Certified Local Government, Local History Network and Preservation Iowa members
Register for the conference here.
Who should attend?
- Historic property owners
- Members of historic preservation commissions
- Historic preservation, planning, interior design and architecture students
- Main Street staff and board members
- Preservation professionals and consultants
- Developers and planning professionals
- Local government officials, community leaders and civic organizations
- Architects
The summit is a coordinated effort of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs’ State Historic Preservation Office, the city of Sioux City and the Sioux City Historic Preservation Commission. It is funded in part with federal funds from the National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior.
Lodging
Rooms are still available but the Preserve Iowa Summit discounted rate is no longer available. Please inquire with the hotel for the current rate.
Warrior Hotel
525 6th St, Sioux City, IA 51101
Group Rate: $119 plus applicable taxes
Call 712-317-1011 to reserve your room.
Schedule at a Glance
Thursday, June 1
8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. | Visit the Iowa History Mobile Museum at the Sioux City Public Museum |
9 - 11:30 a.m. | CLG Roundtable at The Warrior Hotel - Invitation Only |
11 a.m. - 1 p.m. | Registration at the Orpheum Theatre |
1 - 4:30 p.m. | Welcome, Keynote Address and Awards Ceremonies at Orpheum Theatre |
5 - 6:30 p.m. | Welcome Reception at The Warrior Hotel |
Friday, June 2
8 a.m. - 4 p.m. | Registration | |
9 - 10:30 a.m. | Breakout Sessions | |
ESHPO and Navigating the State Historic Preservation Office | Heather Gibb | |
Demystifying Design: How to Find and Work with an Architect AIA LU Session Credit |
Steve Wilke-Shapiro | |
Clear Lake Sea Wall | Michelle Cunliffe, Scotney Fenton, Scott Flory and Beth Ann Schumacher | |
Uncovering Dubuque's Black Heritage | Chris Happ Olson | |
Mobile Workshop: Woodbury County Courthouse | Leesa McNeil and Jim | |
10:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Breakout Sessions | |
Hubbard Park National Register Nomination | Caitlin Benton | |
Tools of the Trade |
Scotney Fenton and Michelle Cunliffe | |
Sustainability Through Preservation, How Deconstruction Serves Sustainability and Preservation | Terry Philips and Sandra Johnson | |
Network to Freedom - Preservation of the Underground Railroad in Iowa | Barry Jurgensen | |
Mobile Workshop: Woodbury County Courthouse | ||
12:30 - 2 p.m. | Lunch on Your Own | |
2 - 3:30 p.m. | Breakout Sessions | |
Across Iowa: An Environmental Journey in Time | Kevin Mason | |
Historic Structures Reports AIA Session Credit |
Michelle Cunliffe | |
Elevating Historical and Contemporary Stories Through the Arts | Teva Dawson | |
Recent Archaeological Investments at the Abbie Garner Sharp Cabin Historic Site, Dickinson County, Iowa | John F. Doershuk | |
Mobile Workshop: 4th Street Walking Tour | ||
3:45 - 5 p.m. | Breakout Sessions | |
A Section 106 and National Register Primer: What Are They and What Documentation Is Needed for Project Submission | Sara Andre | |
Case Study: Letting the Building Speak: Innovations for Planning, Programming and Documenting State Capitols from Two States |
Dan Worth, Zach Soflin and Scott Allen | |
ReflectDSM: Growing Historic Preservation Through Planning | Jason Van Essen, Stacey Hanley and Breann Bye | |
Collaboration of Historic Preservation Commission with Friends Groups | Lynn Pruitt | |
Mobile Workshop: Jackson Street Walking Tour | ||
All Friday sessions will be hosted at the Warrior Hotel.
Saturday, June 3
9 - 9:15 a.m. | Lightning Rounds Welcome | |
9:15 - 9:45 a.m. | Seeking Equality Stories of Black Iowans, 1839 and Beyond |
Leo Landis |
9:45 - 10:15 a.m. | Researching Your Historic Property | Tony Jahn |
10:30 - 11 a.m. | Writing State and Local History: Methods and Consideration When Writing for a Variety of Audiences | Andrew Klumpp |
11 - 11:30 a.m. | A Big Architect in a Small Town: Charles Altfillisch in Decorah | Lynn Pruitt |
11:30 - 11:45 a.m. | Closing Remarks | Susan Kloewer and Heather Gibb |
All Saturday sessions will be hosted at the Warrior Hotel.
Schedule subject to change.
Mobile Workshops & Self-Guided Tours
Curate your Preserve Iowa Summit experience with several optional mobile workshops and self-guided tours. No advance registration is necessary. Attendees will meet in the Woodbury's Steakhouse area prior to leaving on mobile workshops.
Mobile Workshops - Available Friday, June 2
- Woodbury County Courthouse
- 4th Street Walking Tour
- Jackson Street Walking Tour
Self-Guided Tours
- Sioux City Art Museum
- Sioux City Public Museum
- Palmers Olde Tyme Candy Shoppe
- Sergeant Floyd River Museum
- Sergeant Floyd Monument
- Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center
Archeological Field Day Presented by the Sioux City Railroad Museum - Wednesday, May 31
The Sioux City Railroad Museum, in collaboration with the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist, is offering a one-day Archaeology Field Day event for Preserve Iowa Summit Attendees.
This pre-summit archaeology field experience will introduce Summit attendees to archaeological methods used in the preservation of historical sites, particularly in gathering evidence to tell the backstory of the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic Site in Sioux City. This field experience will happen at a site listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Plus, Summit attendees will assist in laying out a pedestrian survey grid, review a previously-excavated trench and perform auger and shovel tests. After recovering artifacts, attendees will wash, catalog, and process artifacts for further investigations at the State Archaeology Lab.
This event is free but only available to Preserve Iowa Summit attendees at this time. Information has been emailed to registered Summit attendees. If you have questions about this event, email Allison Archambo at allison.archambo@iowa.gov.
The activity that is the subject of this project has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
The views and conclusions expressed during this event are those of the speakers and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government.